Donors, businesses and research groups have united to pledge to boost wheat yields by 50% in the next 20 years. Rob Dawson explains why and how (RT @cgiarclimate: Global food security: could wheat feed the world?

The planet's top experts on global warming released their latest predictions this week for how rising temperatures will change our lives, and in particular, what they mean for the production of food.

The report, sadly, is massive and excruciatingly hard to digest. Our hats go off to the good folks at the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), who summarized it with easy-to-read infographics on what to expect over the next several decades.

"War on waste" – Food waste represents one of the major issues: globally, roughly one-third of the food produced for human consumption, about 1.3 billion tonnes per year, is lost or wasted [see BigFacts by CCAFS-CGIAR]. For instance, thanks to a combination of GPS and sensors ( which can monitor humidity, temperature, etc.), ICTs can help monitoring food while it is moved from one location to the other, so to minimize food loss because of poor transportation conditions.

"War on waste" – Food waste represents one of the major issues: globally, roughly one-third of the food produced for human consumption, about 1.3 billion tonnes per year, is lost or wasted [see BigFacts by CCAFS-CGIAR]. For instance, thanks to a combination of GPS and sensors ( which can monitor humidity, temperature, etc.), ICTs can help monitoring food while it is moved from one location to the other, so to minimize food loss because of poor transportation conditions.

"War on waste" – Food waste represents one of the major issues: globally, roughly one-third of the food produced for human consumption, about 1.3 billion tonnes per year, is lost or wasted [see BigFacts by CCAFS-CGIAR]. For instance, thanks to a combination of GPS and sensors ( which can monitor humidity, temperature, etc.), ICTs can help monitoring food while it is moved from one location to the other, so to minimize food loss because of poor transportation conditions.

Imagine a scenic cruise through the Amazon Sea, or a week at a seaside resort in Arkansas. Fanciful ideas in the early 21st century, these dramatic changes could become a reality in the very distant future.

Global sea levels have risen about eight inches since 1880, and scientists predict they could rise two to seven feet more by 2100, explains Climate Central. If global warming trends continue, even greater rates of sea level rise are possible in the coming centuries.

Martin Vargic, an amateur graphic designer from Slovakia, designed this map that depicts a world after 260 feet of sea level rise.

For average sea levels to rise this high, it would take the melting of both of Antarctica's ice sheets, along with Greenland and other ice caps and glaciers across the world. While this much sea level rise isn't likely for at least several hundred years, the increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels we bring about today create "largely irreversible" climate change for 1,000 years even after we curtail our greenhouse gas emissions, according to one study.

If you want to see what this much sea level rise would do to your hometown, Southern Fried Science blogger Andrew David Thaler shows how to "drown your town" using Google Earth.

"There is still a way to prevent all this from happening," Vargic wrote on his DeviantArt page. "If we limit our greenhouse gas emissions to bare minimum, we can still save our environment and our civilization from the worst."

This map is a simple but powerful one. Africa is the continent that contains the most nations (53), yet it uses only six languages for business. Not surprisingly, all of the languages (with the exception of Arabic) are European in origin. Clearly, the effects of colonialism are still felt around the world in former colonies. The languages that were forced upon various African countries by their colonizers have endured and become the main languages of business in their respective countries. What is just as unfortunate as the roots of colonialism holding fast, if not more so, is the absence of any indigenous languages being used as the language of business in any of the countries of Africa. While using a business language that is spoken by much of the world is surely a matter of practicality and logistics, it is still robbing African countries of their heritage and culture to some degree.

This brings up the issue of globalization and how it is constantly at odds with the preservation of culture and tradition. In order for Africa (or any continent or region or country) to function in the modern world, it must be capable of conducting business in a language that is spoken by its business partners. The ability to do business with virtually any person, company, or country in the world is an obviously invaluable one. At the same time, however, it allows for the subtle and gradual erasure of unique culture and traditions. So while it would be ideal for cultural preservation for countries to conduct business in their indigenous languages, it seems to be a necessary evil for smaller and less influential countries to adopt the languages of their more powerful and influential business partners if they wish to survive in today's world.

The lingering effects of colonialism, so strongly relevant in every aspect of African ways of life, are perhaps most evident in the "lingua franca" of African nations today. With a multitude of different ethnicities and languages in use in every African nation today, the result of the arbitrarily drawn national borders made by European colonizers, necessitates the use of the one language that's commonly spoken across every independent nation- a European tongue. This system, while a necessity in today's world, is a solution that no one is quite happy with. It reminds Africans of all ages of the power still held by their colonizers over their everyday lives, a stark reminder of the horrors of the previous century at every business meeting and every exchange of goods. This harms the national psyche of each nation, as well as undermining the importance and pride Africans deservedly maintain in their own native languages. European-made borders, however, make it difficult to find another, native language that every ethnic group can agree upon. As a result, the European languages are still in use in Africa, and will most likely still be in use for some time to come. It's a system that no one likes but, for the time being, everyone must accept as reality.

This map is a great resource in showing the diversity of language in Africa. Of course, this map discounts the many native African languages. It instead focuses on the language of business in the continent. That language, has been influence by the European colonization of Africa. The chosen language of business is often tied to the colonizer of the region. The diversity of language in Africa is staggering to say the least.

Consumers in Africa enjoy shopping the most — survey BDlive ALTHOUGH they are putting money aside for a rainy day, African consumers are eager to spend simply because buying makes them happy, a report from The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) said on...

This sounds like a pretty messy and vague report, or perhaps the writeup is the problem. But the topic is of interest and I would factor in social dimensions of visiting markets in Africa. More from the piece ...

/ The report, which polled 10,000 people in eight of the continent’s largest countries including South Africa, Nigeria, Angola and Ghana, showed 60%-90% of consumers expressed strong desire "to buy more things" every year.

This was higher than averages in Brazil, China and India, and twice the percentage in developed nations, it said.

BCG partner and co-author of the report Stefano Niavas said only 30% of consumers said they "already have enough things".

I think it's awesome to see the past mixed with the present, and realizing how our imagination adds to the "mystery" of places. However, seeing things in context truly changes perception - how could this be brought to your students? Fascinating.

By looking at these images it is apparent that heir is a clear distincition between how one may view the monument from upclose andd then when you take asep back you can really appreciate it by seeing others appreciate it as well. As an observer you can also identify the different persepectives by looking at it in a different light by either taking a step back or viewing it from a different vanage point. Knowing the history of the monument also helps with a background story in order for better appreciation of the monument and the History that goes along with it.

Historical records from Eastern Europe report the use of bean leaves to trap Bed Bugs. Leaves of some varieties of bean plants (Phaseolus spp.) have hairs called trichomes on their leaves. Some tri...

diana buja's insight:

Historical records from Eastern Europe report the use of bean leaves to trap Bed Bugs. Leaves of some varieties of bean plants (Phaseolus spp.) have hairs called trichomes on their leaves. Some trichomes have hooks at the tip that can immobilize insects. The hooked trichomes rub against the legs of insects as they walk on the leaf. Some of the hooks will stick in the soft tissue of the insect between the leg segments and entrap it, much the way a fish hook will hook into a fish.

In Sudan's war-torn region of Darfur, women must walk for hours to find firewood, risking attack every step of the way. In 2005, the U.S. government asked Dr. Ashok Gadgil, Director of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies Division, for a solution to this grave problem. His team designed a fuel-efficient cookstove which is tailored to Darfur's climate and cooking. The Berkeley-Darfur Stove requires less than half the fuel of traditional cooking methods, decreasing women's exposure to violence while collecting firewood and their need to trade food rations for fuel. (2011 BERC Symposium poster)

A decade of neglecting the National Institutes of Health budget has left a sector of science scrabbling to survive

diana buja's insight:

Grim assessment from a responder: "There certainly is a need for research, and the NIH essentially funds research about human health and disease and there has been progress, but now we essentially have an aging population which requires much higher medical costs as well, so money will probably end up going to patient care rather than research...

"Information on climate change and its links with forests are not readily available in Central Africa. The concept of climate change and its processes evolve so quickly that decision makers are hard pressed to keep up. In addition, most of the available information is disseminated through very selective channels (scientific journals, articles, newsletters, websites, etc.) that do not always reach a wider audience.

Radio remains the most accessible means of communication, because it is available to everyone and is relatively inexpensive.

"Changing seasons" is a CIFOR-COBAM radio program that adopts a debate format. It is broadcast monthly by the national radio station, Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV), which has nationwide coverage,exchanging information on climate change and its links with forests...

PHOTO: Cleared trees and groundcover to grow bean crops is quickly denuding vast areas of eastern Burundi. As rain has decreased over the last decade+, natural growth simply does not regenerate. Photo credit: dianabuja

diana buja's insight:

The use of radio as an extension and communication tool can be an excellent method of linking up with local people and with extension and other relevant workers. In much of rural Africa there is an information gap that, as here in Burundi and in the Congo, is pervasive due to war, unrest, and poverty.

However, to make it work, there are some necessary inputs - chief of which, as pointed out in the last blog post, is ongoing support for the project *beyond* the 2 or 3 years of a grant. Part of this work must involve networking and bringing on board relevant experts and policy folk in ministries of agriculture (etc) as well as government offices. Without that, sustained operation may not occur.

In northern Sudan, I have seen villagers enjoying an excellent radio program focused on gum arabic trees (Acacia senegal & A. sayel) and related ground crops. It was very much appreciated in the gum Arabic regions (south of El Obeid) in which I was working.

Here in Burundi, several years ago an international donor funded and mounted an educational radio station with links to about six major areas of the country. I collaborated in developing a series of programs on small ruminant husbandry, an important topic given losses during the fighting, plus inbreeding and diseases – a logical next step after having completed a major assessment of the role of restocking and small ruminants in post-conflict reconstruction. We received funding for this applied research program from AARNET-ILRI (the Animal Agriculture Research Network of the International Livestock Research Institute).

However, because key policymakers were apparently not committed to an educational radio station, and perhaps more importantly, because the country was not yet sufficiently at peace, the programming lapsed primarily into popular music. A good lesson on the need for both interactive project design and for ongoing followup.

Rwanda is a genocide that many people don't even know about. Regardless of whether someones heard of it, they should still be aware of how people have lived their lives from that time. Some looking to forgive the people who did this, and others looking to gain forgiveness from those they hurt.

You hear about how people in Rwanda forgiving the perpetrators that killed their families, parents, husbands, and children. They can say that they have fully forgiven them and that they are on good terms with each other or they forgave someone and that was it. Seeing the body language that these people have together really makes it real. Some people are seen awkwardly next to each other while others are touching, even holding hands. Seeing the pictures of both perpetrator and survivor together after forgiveness has been granted can do a lot more than words can in telling what kind of relationship these people have together twenty years after the genocide.

In an almost unthinkable arrangement, these pictures feature victims of the Rwandan genocide standing with the perpetrators who often killed their families. In a genocide where most of the killings were committed with machetes and perpetrated by neighbors attacking neighbors, it is difficult to imagine how the survivors feel and how they can stand to forgive the killers. It brings up the question of what right do these killers have to ask forgiveness from their victims?

Several studies have shown that global crop production needs to double by 2050 to meet the projected demands from rising population, diet shifts, and increasing biofuels consumption. Boosting crop yields to meet these rising demands, rather than clearing more land for agriculture has been highlighted as a preferred solution to meet this goal. However, we first need to understand how crop yields are changing globally, and whether we are on track to double production by 2050. Using ~2.5 million agricultural statistics, collected for ~13,500 political units across the world, we track four key global crops—maize, rice, wheat, and soybean—that currently produce nearly two-thirds of global agricultural calories. We find that yields in these top four crops are increasing at 1.6%, 1.0%, 0.9%, and 1.3% per year, non-compounding rates, respectively, which is less than the 2.4% per year rate required to double global production by 2050. At these rates global production in these crops would increase by ~67%, ~42%, ~38%, and ~55%, respectively, which is far below what is needed to meet projected demands in 2050. We present detailed maps to identify where rates must be increased to boost crop production and meet rising demands.

New Era Mahangu crops under worm attack New Era According to Wilhelmina Gideon from Okaku village in Oshana Region, she noticed the worms on her mahangu (pearl millet) crops last week.

diana buja's insight:

-- Said Gideon: “These things (worms) are increasing every day. If you come here in the morning you’ll see the crops are covered, but they disappear as the sun rises,” said meme Anna Ashikoto from Oluhwa village, also in Oshana Region.

Anna Fillemon also an elderly from the same village said she remembered the bollworm or similar worms from many years ago, but the plague then was not as big as the present one.

She said villagers used to control the worms by digging trapping channels around the mahangu fields and by handpicking and burning the worms and it worked.

Some villagers claim to have reported the matter to their councillors.

Josua Antonio another agricultural technician said an assessment of the situation was due to be carried out over the weekend and the ministry had sent extra vehicles to help. He said based on the findings, the ministry would make a decision on the use of pesticides.

“We are told that we will receive less harmful pesticides that only takes seven days to neutralise the worms, but again as I said, this is going to be the last resort,” said Antonio.

A damaged maize cob that, if harvested with clean cobs, can contaminate all the cobs with aflatoxins (photo credit: Joseph Atehnkeng/IITA). 'The UN World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that bi...

diana buja's insight:

Aflatoxins are a very serious problem here in Burundi, peanut and maize crops are perhaps the biggest problems - and we need the research that is useable by smallholders to be available to, and pomoted by, both NGOs and the extension service.

"Construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (known as Gerd) is now about 30% complete. Once completed, in three years, it will be Africa's largest hydropower dam, standing some 170m (558ft) tall."

Egypt and Sudan have their own considerations in this dam issue. Here in Burundi all countries that share the Nile watershed - Burundi being the most southern point - meet regularly here to discuss these and related issues, though how their respective politicians / governments act may be a different question.

In an area fraught with political instability, non state actors, and rebel groups all too willing to fight for power and the wealth that comes from it - it will be interesting to see how the conflicts shift over time as this dam gets closer to completion. Will Egypt attempt to sabotage it or will they take a more diplomatic approach and try to work with the Ethiopian government diplomatically again? Perhaps Egypt will whisper in to the ear of Sudan or the various "rebel" groups in the region, considering diplomatic means have apparently failed so far. With Sudan's use of the Blue River also going to be affected by Ethiopia's damming, it will be interesting to see if a cooperation between Egypt and Sudan occurs. Perhaps Ethiopia would like to see a deeper conflict between Sudan and South Sudan, keeping their affected neighbor off balance.

It is extremely difficult to divide a river. The Ethiopians will benefit immensely from this project but the Egyptians could lose everything if the Nile dries up. This is going to be a difficult problem to solve.

There is no way the whole Nile river is going to be dried up because of this damn. Ethiopia won't let that happen. To say that the river is going to have the same amount of water in it, thats not going to happen. Obviously the Gerd is going to have a huge impact on the water supply of the Nile but it definitely isn't going to dry up the whole thing!

A new analysis on the impact global warming will have on crop yields, was just published in Nature Climate Change. The news isn’t good: the research, based on a new set of data created by the combination of 1,700 previously published studies, found that global warming of only 2º C (3.6º F) will likely reduce yields of staple crops like rice and maize as early as the 2030s. And as the globe keeps warming, crop yields will keep shriveling unless drastic steps are taken to adapt to a changing climate.

As Andy Challinor, a professor of climate impacts at the University of Leeds and the lead author of the study, put it in a statement:

"Our research shows that crop yields will be negatively affected by climate change much earlier than expected…Furthermore, the impact of climate change on crops will vary both from year-to-year and from place-to-place—with the variability becoming greater as the weather becomes increasingly erratic."

Ahmed Waheed started bird-watching when he was seven years old. He would travel with his father, who was the manager of the Zaranik Protectorate in North Sinai. The protectorate covers 250 square kilometers, and lies just 30 kilometers west of the town of Arish, along the Mediterranean Coast in northeastern Egypt.

The rarely seen birds of Egypt by Ahmed Waheed | PANORAMA

Panorama presents the Rarely seen birds of Egypt by photographer Ahmed Waheed. Waheed is starting an online magazine called "Egypt Geographic"

tags: #DWC #LN Egypt Birds Nature

"Photographing birds can be a challenging hobby, requiring knowledge of species’ behavior and migration patterns, and lots of patience. This photo was taken in Hurghada, Red Sea Governorate, in March of 2013.

diana buja's insight:

Dr Ahmed gives us stunning pictures of birds in Egypt. Some are on their way south - where we meet them just next to us in the Rusizi Wetlands, which is on the north-western side of Lake Tanganyika in Burund.

The remarks/insight by Bukar Usman (D.V.M ) are spot-on. For years I've watched well-meaning folks and research institutes trying to make the Sahel into something it is not. Stress and drought are always there, and a refocusing on ways to enhance - or support - current - and related - arid land strategies are needed.

For decades the Sahel has been presented as suffering from irreversible degradation, leading to desert advancement and the impoverishment of the population. This issue paper develops an alternative profile and identifies the considerable potential of the Sahel’s dryland ecosystems. It explores the inherent resilience within existing crop and livestock production systems based on exploiting climatic variability; systems which local people in the Sahel have used to establish successful local and national economies. This new profile can help re-define development interventions and promote a more climate resilient future.- Report

Comprehensive studies of soil, such as this on, are so labor and finance intensive that similar studies in developing countries may not be possible. What are the next 'best bet' options?

In Sudan (el-Obeid area) we discovered local farmers identified a soil type that was not identified by researchers. The farmer-identified soil type was linked to specific forms of cropping. That, in itself, was reason enough to conduct our less intensive, but more farmer-centered study,of soils.

But the weakness of these studies relates to their less specific results.

As the study in the attached research notes:

"Researchers found a strong link between soil biodiversity and the performance of ecosystems, in particular on carbon and nitrogen cycling. Indeed soil biodiversity was a greater predictor of C and N cycling than land use. Intensive wheat rotation was found to reduce soil biodiversity across the food web in all countries. The authors hope that this and other research will lead to the development of sound land management practices that support soil biodiversity, in turn increasing the productivity of land while mitigating climate change.

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